How We Get our Mail While Sailing Around the World | Step 335

" How do we get our mail and packages delivered while sailing full time around the world? "
That's a question we receive quite often, today, we answer this very question and let you in on our little secret...
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[@Dobbo314]

One of the thinks I love about this channel is how you both cover the mundane stuff. Because, for me at least, when you add in the nomadic and/or sailing life style the mundane develops a whole new dimension.

[@paul_gradenwitz]

That bus ride is an amazing piece of work. Just imagine how much trips to different places were needed to get that story line of that bus ride. And that is done with two people and a few cameras. One piece of the great video. Thanks for the information and the piece of art.

[@douglashaag1127]

I posted before reading yours and said some of the same things about the planning and editing necessary to tell the story as if there is a third person filming. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you track down their two-part video from a couple years ago that explains and demonstrates these filming techniques. That one even includes a part about sound effects.

[@paul_gradenwitz]

It is perfect that you posted a similar post. It just underlines that my view is not standing alone. They have been working hard. We enjoy the result. At least we can recognise that with our comments. Even if I know in detail how they do it, then still the result is worth the praise.

[@daves_channel1491]

I notice the details, like the extra bus shots and locking the dingy, it really is what makes the quality of your video, some of the best. hope you are having a lovely stay in the med. looks like you have almost found the equivalence of a couch.I am not having a dig, embrace it, we all need downtime. Ps I can hear you say how long did we take to make this video. 🙂

[@GreenTeaDigital]

I love the dead-simple episode idea of filming a trip to pick up the mail. Well executed guys!

[@zaklinacz_gojow]

In many european countries there are also package lockers on literally every second corner, where you can order packages to and then open it with a code you get via text. The packages usually wait like 48h to be picked up before being returned

[@richardherndon1541]

For a nubie who is just starting to cruise these were great tips. Thanks! On a different topic you guys have the absolutely best b roll of any channel anywhere! Period!

[@edgarmuller6652]

One simple episode as receiving mail as a cruiser and still always you guys make it ❤worth watching

[@douglashaag1127]

As a long time sailor, I particularly enjoy your videos that focus on specific boat projects or techniques (anchoring, scaling the mast, etc.). I don't recall your doing many videos like this one about "dealing with everyday issues while living aboard a boat without a land base". But I really liked this one and hope you can think of more to weave in occasionally. Secondly, several years ago you posted a two-part video about how you film and edit to make it appear there is a third party filming you. I really noticed those techniques being used effectively in this one.

[@johnnyrevel5545]

A very interesting step on mail. When we traveled in our RV we were a member of "Escapees" based in Texas. They have a mail service that actually gives you a street address for your mail. Then Escapees keeps it for you there or forwards it to where you are going to bel ie General Delivery in Solomons MD. Having that street address had other benefits more than just mail service like being a Texas resident and a Texas driver's license if you needed one.

[@briangross45]

Fantastic episode! Unique and very super relevant subject for new cruisers. The production quality on this chapter is second to none. Very well done Kika and Dan!

[@raybame5816]

Now this is a truly fun step. Unusual camera angles. Content. Interest. It's got it all. Thanks for this. Shocked me to think that it's been EIGHT years watching you.

[@SaraGerassi]

Great episode, I love the camera angles you guys used! I'll have to remember when shipping to a marina that everything is now a boat part! Thanks for the tips!!

[@allenwinston5157]

This was Brilliant! Bravo!! And you guys camera work and Editing is awesome. Really it is outstanding!! I live watching and sharing with my friends. Living vicariously. Allen from NM

[@alexandral6273]

Very interesting video ! Thank you We spent 2 weeks in Mallorca last summer and we absolutely LOVED it and Palma is just GORGEOUS !!!! When I walked in the middle of the huge cathedral, I cried. It never happened to me before ! Just because it’s huge and gorgeous. I felt very strong emotions !!

[@vowe]

What a wonderful and charming video! I know this is a lot of work (so many angles on the bus) but you make it look easy. And I learned how you make sure you still have a dinghy to return to the boat.

[@KeithCarmichaelInFL]

I have been planning to go nomad for a while now (my boating plans got canceled by "executory duties" and I am still waiting to complete them. I am incredibly jealous of your travels (and yes, I know they are not all wonderful). These little reminders of the realities of travel are always welcome!

[@HellyWelly93]

Your story telling is epic!

[@glencrandall7051]

This video was most interesting. It was something I never considered. Obviously you guys have not only considered it but have worked it all out very well. Great point about the junk mail when using friends address for a drop.👍👍Thank you for sharing. Have a great 2023 and stay safe.🙂🙂

[@kelleypitcher8754]

Never thought I would enjoy a video about receiving mail, but I did! Well done and entertaining as always 🙌

[@timwebb8153]

Awesome video about something that I bet most folks don't think about when considering the cruising lifestyle. Bellissimo!

[@marioluque1107]

Great explanation of how you "survive" out there... preparation was mispelled! no biggie. Envious of your experiences, tried to do it when I was in my 20's, da udder half thought I was nuts. So you fulfill my dreams, together with Atticus, M&J and others. Many blessings you two! Really enjoyed seeing the gettogether with Atticus.

[@bforshay]

Love hanging out with you on the travels to town and on chores. Thank you for sharing your world so well.

[@bforshay]

I just found a message to text you on Telegram. I cannot figure out how to do that.

[@iamgcase]

I really appreciate that you allow me to tag along on your vessel and in your life. For me, it’s like Swiss Family Robinson v4. You’re entertaining, honest and young at heart. Please continue! 👍😀

[@380Scania]

Great video and thanks for keeping us posted 😂. Greg 🇬🇧

[@matthewcurry425]

That was great info and a fun episode 😊

[@shanegrimm]

Great episode. Lots of useful advice, thank you!

[@chaselemacks653]

I like this style of video where y’all are answering questions about the crushing life blog style👍

[@TropicShade]

Great vid guys! 🌴😎

[@Sailing_Antrice]

Really interesting info thank you. I am cruising for an extended period this summer so I might well need some of those tips.

[@rosskennedy4333]

🍿 and a movie!!! Always love these useful videos. I crave the information.

[@justincase5272]

Great job at yet another chapter in your lives!!!

[@keith800]

Great video nice you pass on advice and tips for the budding sailors on the every day things that can easily be forgotten about..

[@GabbiiGoose]

Wow! Awesome job with the cover photo edit.

[@christophermelo7889]

True story. I'm in line at my local autoparts place. The owner and his wife are waiting on a line of people. Owner says to the guy in front of me "you know, I'm still having mail (male?) problems." They proceed to talk package delivery since the guy in front of me is his postman. I get up to the counter and say "geez, with your opener i was expecting to be fly on the wall for a much more interesting conversation than that!" He asks what i mean. "I thought maybe that was your urologist" i said. His wife laughs coffee out her nose....

[@joesphbest3120]

Great seeing you 2 again.🤩🤩

[@richb313]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. When I was working internationally every trip I made I was carrying spare parts and a skill I developed was getting these parts through customs without incident most places were straight forward other places required something else like a 10 dollar bill stuffed in a pass port each place was different and had to learn it along the way.

[@-suncheez-]

Hey, guys! This is my first comment here, just to put my gratitude for all the job you've done these years. I've literally watched every video from the bottom-up in two weeks! You are gorgeous! I'm even thinking about dropping my current life and move to the boat. I'll either make it my new life or die like a stupid newb in a rough sea :) One thing I want to ask you: there is a lot of light reflected from the water. Didn't you think about putting your spare flexible solar panels facing down under your main panels to gain some more power? Won't be much, mb 25-30% of the panel's top performance at the best case but anyway it's a power and anyway you already carrying this mass onboard. Maybe try it?

[@ryanh4889]

Great episode and information. DHL is awesome. Great shipping tips! Thanks.

[@ChuckHodges]

This was a fun video. Thanks!

[@dwel2928]

A 15 minute talk on getting your mail and it was really interesting - I think you guys could make us like watching grass grow! Thanks for putting this episode together. Our church in NY state sent about a pallet's worth of Christmas "shoe boxes" to our missionaries in Nicaragua. They had to go the the container consolidator in June! Seemed a bit extreme. Mid January and they are almost there, but not quite. That's why we usually carry an extra bag of tools, OTC drugs, etc. when we fly down. It's only about a 3 1/2 hr flight from Atlanta; shipping takes forever.

[@MCMaxwell100]

Good info. Thanks guys!

[@helicopterdriver]

I spent a few months in Palma... It's a beautiful place to be tied to a boat. Had so much fun.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

Super useful, thanks for this one. I clocked the use of the kill-chord, a totally useless item unless worn. Here in the UK there was a family that was almost wiped out a few years back, by their own boat, after they were thrown out.

[@MrMrmoonbowrd]

We lived on a boat in the Caribbean for 5 years. We would use FED-EX. We would have our packages and mail sent to the local office with instructions to call our phone number, or we would check every other day or so. Love you channel, have a great adventure.

[@Sailing-Cocon]

When I send really important items to my boat, I put an Apple AirTag in the box (if that can be arranged). That allows me to perfectly track the package. Thank for all your perfect videos!

[@jimfisk4474]

Hi Dan and Kika, a lot of mail info there. Enjoy the scenes as always

[@cincvolflt]

Have you ever sent things “post restante”? Most postal services will hold mail at a post office for you using that service. In Spain, you just specify the post code for your local post office, and include “Lista Correos”. It’s not super well-known, but backpackers and others often use it to pre-station food boxes, etc. Thanks for the great videos!

[@mckaypaterson2519]

Thank you for the information. I'll apply it if I decide to travel internationally again. Tip for Australian Mail (Australia Post): letters and ordinary surface mail can take up to 10 days or more to reach you from time of posting. This can be avoided if extra fees are paid to prioritise mail delivery. Parcel delivery is much more efficient as a parcel can arrive almost overnight or within three days. Otherwise, your advice to use DHL or other international carriers, works well internally in Australia and overseas, holds true.

[@brentengle7302]

Back in 86 while on starboard lookout on a Med cruise I saw a nugget dressed up in a harness, fowl weather gear, and Mae West with a boat hook. The OOD upon seeing this called for the messenger of the watch to go get his camera. The actuality was that every Sunday morning when ever I went to the mess deck for brunch I would be sitting there eating and they would call flight ops. So I would always grab two slices of bread and stuff what ever I could into a sandwich before joining the Helo Crash and Salvage Team.

[@MichaelrennieG]

One of the most amazing things today is the "DC"Clamp on AMP meter, since 'AC" is fluctuating around the Clamp bar coming from around the wire it is easily converted to millivolt for conversion to meter reading,, Now that we have Solar at High currents being popular which is DC they now made a Clamp on DC meter to the ordinary user, but it is not common that a Clamp on DC amp meter comes with meter because of the extra circuit needed for the DC conversion... use to be we had to put the DC amp function in series with wire and that meant taking the wire off,, what a blessing we don't have to do that now with Solar panels or any other DC circuit, but make sure you order your DC clamp on meter with the right scales you intend to read, some only do High current readings

[@hmmtentego5542]

Thank you guys its good /useful information ...as many times on your channel :) I think start my monohull journey maybe next year maybe year after ,,, Love it ,love you :) greetings from Poland Al

[@Nate-bc1el]

good info, good video!

[@raffaelemoretuzzo2983]

Great ideas as usual to male your videos! Great! Grazie! Ciao

[@keithh3463]

thanks for the info!

[@oserra666]

Hey guys, nice to learn that you are soo close to where I live in Sitges. Just wanted to drop a recommendation for you to explore: the nearly deserted and very remote islands of Columbretes. It has the best underwater ecosystem that I've ever seen in the Mediterranean. Totally recommended. Big hug and safe travels!

[@mrfarmer532]

That was fun and informative 🎉

[@lustyd]

You usually can track internationally with country based carriers. It’s an international system just sometimes the carrier website doesn’t go out to find updates. Google your tracking code and the word tracking and you’ll get a proper international tracking website that will tell you where your package is after it leaves the country of origin.

[@lustyd]

Called a UPU code, look them up 👍

[@portfoliofotoz]

I use that exact clamp meter on my boat and at home. It's a real truth-confirmer. Get the accessory line splitter so you can test a/c at the outlets.

[@sailingmorningstar4036]

Hey Kids your episode hit the no home (no couch) - been living aboard close to two decades. Actually here in my home town in BC Canada for the winter and yes am about to get a mailbox at the UPS store. For those institutions that insist on a Civic address which is at a friends place Covid has been handy in telling them I have been isolating on my boat. You guys are costing me money - I have to have a Flipper winch handle now, but at least I can have it delivered LOL.

[@danapted]

In a pinch you can wrap a wire around the wire carrying the current you want to measure and with a little math multiply the reading on the amp meter times the number of wraps you have coiled around the measured wire. But the clamp on meter is sure more convenient if you have enough space around the wire to be measured. Carry on! Cheers!

[@andrewfidel2220]

In the US you can have your package delivered to the post office general delivery. All you need is to find out which post office(s) for the zip code accept general delivery and then put your name/general delivery and then the address of the post office. There's no charge for the service and packages can sit for 30 days (or longer with the agreement of the local postmaster). It's a great option for getting emergency parts via Amazon when you're in places too remote to have a locker or even an address that Amazon recognizes, or if the marina/RV park won't accept packages.

[@caliciabrown3161]

Without even thinking I whistled your tune at the ending and then realized I didn't hear it at all LOL Cheers!! 😜🥰

[@duncangough9969]

A lot of countries offer a Poste restante service as well. This is a service where the post office holds the mail until the recipient calls for it. It is a common destination for mail for people who are visiting a particular location and have no need, or no way, of having mail delivered directly to their place of residence at that time. We used this a lot when travelling Australia in a converted coach.

[@theadventurelocker]

Hey, thanks for sharing this info! We didn't know about the junk mails. So from now on we are not going to ask our friends to help us out with the address! Cheers!

[@BohemianBeatster]

Interesting video

[@pgerry9400]

Stamp of approval !

[@johndunn1340]

Most countries post offices also offer a service called ‘Poste Restante’. Usually the main Post Office in the city will hold mail for you for a fixed period of time. Designed for back packers & travellers etc. I used it in the 1990s while back packing through south east Asia, Australia & NZ.

[@kevinwells4986]

I wonder how a process server would ever reach you? Nice episode. Drone delivery is definitely coming, but it will take some time for all the regulators to figure out how they will make money off of it. That's always the hang up. Enjoy 2023 and the rest of your lives together. I love watching you two.

[@kenworthbruno9765]

U guys are the best

[@itsema91]

One tip, within Europe at least (not sure how it is for other countries), if you mail internationally with the local postal service the tracking number will still work in the receiving country, the tracking will just be provided by the local postal service there. Then you can just use any random international parcel tracking website and it will show you the tracking both in the country you sent from and the country receiving. No need to use DHL/UPS etc.

[@alexmeyjes5533]

keep up the good work

[@petercaras3696]

While cruising Mexico in the 80's, I mailed a bunch of Christmas cards from the local Mexican post office. The recipients got their cards a year later. At least it was around Christmas time!

[@CharlesHopkins]

You guys might want to look into videos by the LockPickingLawyer, and maybe choose a better lock than a dial combo lock to secure your main cabin. That said, I always love your videos !

[@SailingUma]

Most key locks we’ve tried don’t survive the marine environment.

[@bobsails9750]

Thank you

[@annafraley5388]

Funny thing about the Meter 8:15 … We have had multi meters for Y E A R S but recently, watching KZbin to see how to fix our Dometic 2652 fridge we needed a Amp Clamp meter to check the heating element, So we got one this week ALSO… They really are great…!!! ✅👍😎

[@paulm749]

Nice scripting and editing. A video this good doesn't just create itself.

[@binkolney196]

you guys are just so damn adorable ... been following you since that hurricane in the Caribbean ... thanks for everything

[@guyst-laurent5167]

Again, you guys can film a rader boring sequence of bus ride and transform it in a very good cinematic sequence. Keep up the good work and Bon vent

[@yorukkizigeziyor]

Very nice video 😊👍

[@BlueMooseTraveler]

I travel a lot.. kind of my thing. If I know someone in that country - I always ask if there is anything they need from the States. I am a light traveler, but if I need to go to Goodwill to get a suitcase to put stuff in... easy peasy! :)

[@crowdfundcrew]

As a hopeful someday cruiser, the little tidbits of information are sometimes the most important. Looking forward to new adventures in 2023. Join The Crew

[@marandam6019]

So interesting

[@davemccabe7040]

Have fun in Majórica!

[@falingsky5731]

In US you are able to have things shipped general delivery to a local post office and they will hold it until you come in. Time sensitive though I’m sure. Down side is they will not take UPS deliveries or other deliver services.

[@chaswarren7239]

Interesting !

[@SailingOfka]

you are an inspiration how to make a movie. It's always funny to know that you had to come back for that camera... 😉

[@mymobile5014]

There's another free option all over Europe called Poste Restante. I used it extensively travelling in a motorhome around Europe. Check it out.

[@GMC.Sprint]

Only time I've used DHL was in Madagascar. Was delivered in a small car from across the country. For junk mail in the US, if the mail is addressed to someone that doesn't live at the address, return it. The sender will be assessed a fine. This is why most junk mail says "or current resident". Doing this is a way to get a name off a mailing list.

[@bake162]

Good choice with the Klein meter, they make quality tools

[@ianwhyte4654]

Hi Guy's, really engoyed the video. Might i make a suggestion that you change the padlock on Uma's entrance to something a little bit more secure. Combination padlocks are very easily picked open (video's on KZbin) I pesonally would suggest an Abus Tatalium marine 90RK/50 padlock.

[@treetooone]

In Finland we rarely order anything to our address, but rather choose the postal office or an unmanned postal locker system. They are available all over, but the downside is that they are only kept there for like a week or so before getting sent to a central postal office.

[@mjordan812]

Ohhh... THAT Amazon. I was wondering how you got across the Atlantic to Brazil so quickly. 😁

[@Krieghandt]

One thing nomads in the us have learned about usps, is not only can you send mail to a specific post office, but if you don't open the mail, you can forward it to another post office. And no, you don't need to have a p.o. box for one time mail.

[@Lighthouse6b]

Some places charge an input duty on shipped material specially engine parts or electronics. If you can show that you are on a ship in transit, you can avoid paying the tariff.

[@vietadvisor6781]

In the Navy we used to have the new guy suited up in life preserver, helmet, gloves and a boat hook on the bow looking for a "Mail Buoy".

[@user-qw5lv4pu5g]

Hi guys! I understand that the video was filmed in the summer, but if you are in Mallorca, let's meet! I also live here and am engaged in yachting. I watch your channel and it's very interesting to get to know you 🤗

[@hauke3644]

DHL to longitude/latitude, that’s really worth a try! Because here in Germany they often fail delivery to ordinary, stationery addresses…

[@thepoorpeopleofparis]

Love you guy. Great tips. When I used to tour with Ray Charles band We used a lot of those. The hardest thing was back in the day Ray only paid us cash so being stuck in Tokyo or Moscow with a wad of hundreds ad needing to pay a bill back home was a GIANT pain in the ass. This was before euros and direct deposit. We were lucky when we found a Western Union and they would charge a hefty percentage. Cheers to you and I'm missing Maya already. Where's your next big move going to be? Africa?

[@jepomer]

How to get mail at sea? During basic training in the Coast Guard, the reliable scuttle butt was very clear - Mail was picked up from the "mail buoy" of course!

[@justinwhite8867]

Things may have recently changed with US/Canada Postal service... just shipped boat parts from Maryland to Ontario USPS and have gotten tracking texts as the shipment cleared customs and is routed through Canadian facilities. My Ontario boatyard claims Canadian Postal customs clears USPS packages far more efficiently than UPS or Fedex.